On the World Wide Web, everyone is a writer too.

The resulting tsunami of jargon, p.r. clichés, and blogolescent maunderings leads this omnivorous reader to prefer made-for-tv movies and Sudoku.

It also leads to a failure to communicate.

Here are a couple of my pet peeves:

“Located in the heart of the Fingerlakes.”  Or the City.  Or the back yard.

“Writing is our passion.”  Or health.  Or industrial piping.

In his book The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki says it this way.

“Our software is intuitive, secure, fast, and scalable.”

      As opposed to hard to use, vulnerable, slow, and limited?

Surrounded by monster marketing, hampered by time crunches, sooner or later we all resort to this stuff.  After all, what’s the down side?

Maybe you aren’t a great writer.  But if you settle for marketing jargon, adminispeak, and Orwellian double think, you’ll start to believe it.  Your ability to think will get scrambled.  And your business will suffer. 

Consider George W. Bush.

Cute: 
"I didn't grow up in the ocean -- as a matter of fact -- near the ocean -- I grew up in the desert. Therefore, it was a pleasant contrast to see the ocean. And I particularly like it when I'm fishing."

Not Cute:
"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq."

I rest my case.